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MSC for Dummies - A first timer's photo review of the MSC Divina

Tapi

By Tapi,
in MSC Cruises

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graphicguy "Live from...." Rare

graphicguy

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Tappi...excellent info, as always.

 

Having been in the NCL Haven and the MSC YC, concept is similar. Execution is a bit different. But, variety is good.

 

Haven concierges are allk about making that personal connection. While I appreciate that, it's really not necessary. Concierges on MSC are as helpful and probably more efficient in their duties. They did the same as those on the Haven....with the same smiles and service. They're just more efficient. YC would get a request from me, and say they would get on it and to check back later so I could head out and do other things around the ship. I'd come back a few hours later, and everything was done.

 

Haven usually did everything while you waited.

 

Not good or bad, just different.

 

Gotta say,I much preferred Le Muse over the Haven Resataurant. Food was good on both, bit better in Le Muse. Service in Le Muse was more classic service you'd find in a 4-5 star restaurant on land. Food was excellent. The down side, Le Muse is nowhere near the YC. It's all the way towards the rear of the ship, whereas the YC cabins and Top Sail overlook the bow of the ship. It's a haul.

 

Again, Haven was good, just different from the experience in Le Muse.

 

Top Sail Lounge is beautiful. I prefered it much more than the lounge in the Haven.

 

With the great status match (I'm now Black on MSC), and the great comparative pricing in the YC (similar to a Superior Ocean Balcony on RCCL and well below NCL Haven pricing), I'll be sailing MSC quite a bit more. Have booked a Mediterannean Cruise on the new Meraviglia this Fall in the YC.

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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Thanks for all the great info! With sailaway being so late, what time is muster?

 

 

I had to go back and look at the time stamp on some photos that I took during muster [emoji23]. It was around 5:30pm before dinner. I do have to say that it was one of the most disorganized musters that I've ever attended. Our meeting place was the Eataly Restaurant. With no guidance as to what to do, we just entered the room and we sat on the floor with many others. Everybody was talking over each other and wondering what to do. The room was small, crammed, and odd shaped so a crew member walked around and demonstrated putting the life jacket on but with no verbal instructions. He then walked out and we were left sitting there wondering if the drill was over or what we were supposed to do next, but nobody moved. They finally made an announcement over the loudspeaker confirming that muster was over. We left the room scratching our heads and wondering how bad a real emergency would've been when they couldn't even keep it organized during a drill.

 

 

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KiMnEvan

KiMnEvan

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This will be my 11 yr old son and I first time on MSC, we have done Disney, Carnival and RCCL. We just are doing the Bella experience, we rarely order room service and I don't drink alcohol so the $200 more for the Fantastica package did not work for us. I did add on 18 non alcoholic vouchers. I am wondering should I add on the Dinner package that includes, Galaxy, Eataly and Eataly Pizza?

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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I am wondering should I add on the Dinner package that includes, Galaxy, Eataly and Eataly Pizza?

 

 

I truly enjoy specialty dining on other cruise lines, so I thought about adding the specialty dinner package when we sailed on the Divina, but ultimately decided not to. Friends who had dined at Eataly told us that it wasn't worth the extra money. The venue alone didn't look that worth of an extra fee.

 

We didn't try the specialty pizza because we found the regular (free of charge) pizza served at the Calumet and Manitou cafeteria to be superior to what we've experienced on other cruise lines. So we didn't bother paying extra for pizza when what was offered for free was satisfactory.

 

About Bella vs Fantastica: we had originally booked a Bella stateroom but decided to upgrade to a Fantastica class simply because all of the Bella staterooms available at the time of booking were smack above the Black and White lounge (and we were a bit concerned about noise issues). Otherwise, the added perks of booking a Fantastica stateroom were not important for us. We didn't order room service one time during our cruise. We did get an enhanced kids program (which my kids enjoyed), but I'm positive they would've been perfectly fine without those enhancements.

 

 

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KiMnEvan

KiMnEvan

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THANKS Tapi. Do you know about the rainforest in Puerto Rico? I am looking to do the excursion with the cruise line but I am wondering if I will get the whole experience with the cruise line? I really want to get out and hike a little and see the wonderful waterfalls.

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gigi1313

gigi1313

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I truly enjoy specialty dining on other cruise lines, so I thought about adding the specialty dinner package when we sailed on the Divina, but ultimately decided not to. Friends who had dined at Eataly told us that it wasn't worth the extra money. The venue alone didn't look that worth of an extra fee.

 

We didn't try the specialty pizza because we found the regular (free of charge) pizza served at the Calumet and Manitou cafeteria to be superior to what we've experienced on other cruise lines. So we didn't bother paying extra for pizza when what was offered for free was satisfactory.

 

About Bella vs Fantastica: we had originally booked a Bella stateroom but decided to upgrade to a Fantastica class simply because all of the Bella staterooms available at the time of booking were smack above the Black and White lounge (and we were a bit concerned about noise issues). Otherwise, the added perks of booking a Fantastica stateroom were not important for us. We didn't order room service one time during our cruise. We did get an enhanced kids program (which my kids enjoyed), but I'm positive they would've been perfectly fine without those enhancements.

 

 

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What are the Fantastica enhancements to the Kids Programming?

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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What are the Fantastica enhancements to the Kids Programming?

 

 

They offer additional enrichment activities free of charge (cooking and language classes ). If you're in Bella accommodations, you can add those classes for a fee. My kids enjoyed these extra perks but they would've been perfectly fine without them. The bulk of the activities were included in all classes.

 

 

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  • 3 months later...
OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

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Hello!

 

I saw your response to a thread on the Carnival board and I clicked on your photo review of the Divina in order to get an idea of someone's perspective as to what to expect on my upcoming cruise. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review! I had read in another review that the bar food is free, is it actually? If so, about how much is it? Did you have a bad experience with the pillows? Did you ever skip the MDR and opt for the dinner buffet instead?

 

Thank you so much for your help! :D

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OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

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I'm not the OP, but I can answer the Sports Bar question; the food is now complementary. No charge. Also the pillows seem to have been upgraded.

 

 

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Thank you for your help! Some of the reviews I had read had me considering packing a pillow :') Do you by chance know what other eating venues are complimentary? I know I read about a Tex Mex restaurant, is that complimentary? If it is not, how much does the standard meal go for?

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helen haywood

helen haywood

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If we are talking about Divina, the only complimentary eating venues are the Buffet, MDR and Sports Bar. Divina's two specialty restaurants are Eatly and Galaxy. I think another MSC ship has a Tex-Mex restaurant.

 

 

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OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

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If we are talking about Divina, the only complimentary eating venues are the Buffet, MDR and Sports Bar. Divina's two specialty restaurants are Eatly and Galaxy. I think another MSC ship has a Tex-Mex restaurant.

 

 

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Hm, I watched the video on MSC's website about Divina and I remember them mentioning a Tex Mex restaurant. I wonder if it's new and was recently added, or if it was old and unpopular, and was subsequently replaced.

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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Hello!

 

 

 

I saw your response to a thread on the Carnival board and I clicked on your photo review of the Divina in order to get an idea of someone's perspective as to what to expect on my upcoming cruise. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review! I had read in another review that the bar food is free, is it actually? If so, about how much is it? Did you have a bad experience with the pillows? Did you ever skip the MDR and opt for the dinner buffet instead?

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your help! :D

 

 

Hello. When I sailed, the food at the bar was priced a la carte, but as others have mentioned, it's now complimentary.

 

We ate at either the MDR or the buffet most nights. We didn't try any of the specialty restaurants so I can't comment on those. As far as the buffet goes, I wasn't impressed. They days we went there was because we had either missed our assigned MDR dinner time or didn't feel like sitting down for a long meal, not because we enjoyed the food at the buffet. Overall, we considered the cuisine on this ship to be a bit of a letdown. Being an Italian ship, I was expecting the food to be more memorable, but it didn't live up to those expectations. It's not that the food was bad, just that it wasn't what I envisioned.

 

About the pillows, I don't remember serious issues with them. Our stateroom was nice (balcony) and the beds (including the pillows) were good enough for a restful sleep.

 

 

 

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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Hm, I watched the video on MSC's website about Divina and I remember them mentioning a Tex Mex restaurant. I wonder if it's new and was recently added, or if it was old and unpopular, and was subsequently replaced.

 

You're correct - it was replaced. Tex-Mex is still on Fantasia (El Sombrero) and Splendida (Santa Fe).

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  • 4 weeks later...
nikkiw60 "Live from...." Rare

nikkiw60

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Going on divina for first time in July looking forward to it. I thought all good was free in sports bar?

 

 

 

The food in the sports bar is free now the menu was implemented last October after dry dock.

 

 

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